Isola Di Poveglia
by Alaskan Olive
Summary: G1: Halloween Fic. A simple mission quickly becomes a nightmare when Rumble and Frenzy land on one of Earth's most haunted locations.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** _Halloween is one of my most beloved holidays. Ghosts also happen to be my favorite paranormal phenomenon. So there you are, my reason for writing this short story. _

_Enjoy. _:)

* * *

**_Isola Di Poveglia_**

**Chapter 1**

**"Prologue: A Brief History"**

Five miles away from the jewel of Italy, sits a lone emerald in Venice's lagoon. The emerald has a name: Poveglia. Abandoned; unlike its Venetian neighbor that receives tourists to its romantic and aquatic canals.

Their differences didn't stop there…

Poveglia did not bask in Venice's romantic air, share the city's bright lights, colors or gaily mood during Carnival. No... the major difference between these two destinations was that Poveglia _never_ seemed to have a positive chapter in its history book...

* * *

_August 6, 1350..._

He would have asked where his captors were rowing him to, if he had the strength to speak. Nausea and pain ached though his traumatized body. Every wave that bounced the boat was agonizing. Every time the wind hit or salt water was sprayed from the oars and hit the swelling pus-filled sacks on his skin, he winced. The rope bounding his wrists bit at his sores, cutting them. He hung his head, the sack over his head itching against his sensitive face. It was all torture-- there was no surface on his body left untouched by pain.

_Why was this happening to him? What had he done to deserve the Lord's wrath? He was a devout believer and an honest man..._

A horrid stench filled his nostrils. It was an awful smell that suffocated him. As it seemed to grow stronger, he shuddered. Along with the plague, a rumor had also swept the city. People infected were to be taken to an island and burned in the pits in order to rid the city of the stench of bodies.

The boat lurched forward and stopped. He heard his captors shuffle around the boat and step out. He heard their feet against the sand before he was yanked out, some of the pestering sores on his body opening and bleeding by the uncaring gentleness of the men who kidnapped him. They each grabbed an arm with a sterile grasp and began to drag him. He stumbled across the ground, noticing something very odd about the soil.

The hood was yanked off his face and he finally was able to see where they had taken him. Festered skin matching his own covered the island before him; dead and staring up at him with grey glossy eyes that should have belonged on an Athenian statue. Ash from the fire pit snowed upon him, he shivered, realizing what the ash _was. _He took in the horrid place, looking at each bloated, withered and skeletal body that explained the reason for his abduction...

He was here to die.

His face turned to his kidnappers and met the bird-like _Medico Della Peste;_ the Plague Doctor's mask. Desperation and fear fell from his eyes as he stared at the long black clothed men.

The green eyes behind the mask flickered briefly with pity but quickly hardened. He turned to the other one, the eyes under the wide brim hat disappearing from view as the other Plague Doctor looked over his body, inspecting him.

His answer was a quick jerk of the his beaked face and towards the fire.

* * *

_December 14, 1928..._

The Head Doctor of Poveglia's Psychiatric Hospital preoccupied himself by writing down personal notes and medical observations in his most private of journals. His eyes would periodically flicker to the locked door of his quarters before he continued to scribble.

Soft feminine steps on stone alerted him that one of the nurses was coming.

"You may come in," he called before a knock could even be issued.

His eyes behind his moon-shaped spectacles glanced up at the door when there was a pause.

The nurse turned the knob and let herself in. The Head Doctor gently placed his pen on his desk and closed his book with the flick of his hand, displaying his annoyance for being interrupted, especially by the nosy Head Nurse.

She carefully closed the door, as if her action would be judged and criticized; it was fear, he had seen it before from her.

He leaned back in his seat and threw a hand towards the empty chair. "Take a seat," he said.

"If it is alright Doctor, I would prefer to remain standing-- this will not take long," she politely refused.

His eyebrows rose curtly, waiting for her to say her reason for being in his office.

"Eva Galetti has passed," she informed him solemnly. "She was found dead in the seclusion cell."

"_Wandered_ in there?" he questioned.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Unfortunate," he mused, his sarcastic sentimentality overwhelming. "How did she pass?"

"She suffocated herself… possibly from choking herself."

"Not the spirit?" he asked, his professional demeanor hiding his mocking tone. She still sensed it.

"Sir..." the Head Nurse began before she stopped, unsure wither she should continue to hold her tongue or speak her mind; both options led to a subject she did not want to converse with him about.

"I apologize," he said. "I do recall you saying to me that this is a topic not to be laughed at. However I cannot help it. Spirits are no scapegoat for mental instability or an excuse for throwing chairs at the Orderly."

The Head Nurse's mind returned to that terrifying scene of madness. Eva, her black hair wild and tangled and her eyes filled with fright, defending herself and throwing anything around her at anyone. She never spoke a word throughout the episode, just remained hauntingly silent.

The Head Nurse swallowed the lump in her throat before daring to return back to the conversation.

"But sir, all the patients have been experiencing the phenomenons," she said. "Surely this cannot be just coincidence."

"Perhaps," he shrugged. "Or _perhaps,_ this is just another mystery of the human brain and it's mental health that we have not yet solved--"

"That you intend to find out?" she responded quickly. Her eyes widened with panic when she realized what tumbled out of her mouth.

The Doctor's face fell into a hard frown at her disdainful tone. His fingers tapped against the wood of his desk for the moment, contemplating what to say in response. His head turned to the side and then back to her, noticing that she was refusing to meet his look.

"Eva enjoyed visiting the Bell Tower. Some of the others have told me that she was often found up there as well as other places that she wasn't authorized to visit. Have you ever been up to the Bell Tower?"

She shook her head, knowing it wasn't wise to deny him an answer, even if his intent was to upset her. It was just safer not to ignore him.

"Yes, of course you haven't-- you have a fear of heights," he said biting his bottom lip. "However, a small fear shouldn't stop you. Did you know that the Tower is the only structure visible from every part of the island?"

"I have guessed that," she whispered.

"You can see everyone that comes and goes, it's quiet-- solitary even at times," he continued. "You can do anything you wish up there and not a single soul on the island would know."

The Head Nurse furrowed her eyebrows, finding it ironic that he had said _'soul'_ and was still doubtful of the shadows on the island.

He was playing with her. He had been well aware of her spying on him long before he had been shoving his patients into the laboratoriums and what was left of them into fires of the Crematorium. His most heinous and ambitious experiments were preformed in the Bell Tower, away from the eyes of the already hesitant staff. He knew she had been up there checking up on the patients under his observation, he had seen her enter and exit on several occasions.

_But it had to be done. He had needed to discover how the mental brain worked and what an opportunity!_

"The view is beautiful. I would really recommend seeing it before you leave," the Doctor's eyes narrowed. "In fact why don't you do it now?"

"What?" she asked, stiffening.

"I do **_not _**appreciate being followed or having my name whispered among the staff and be referred to as a monster-- that is the title you have bestowed upon me, isn't it? I will not tolerate it. How I run my hospital will no longer be of any concern of yours-- as it shouldn't have been. I am performing delicate observations on patients who are well beyond recovery. I am not mercilessly murdering them--"

"But you are," she countered. Her throat became dry as she worked up enough courage to finally release what she had been suppressing for so long.

"You... place them in quarantine and I know what you do to them in there, Doctor... their screams are all I need to paint a picture. Then you use barbaric tools to open them up. I've seen you're assistant wash off the blood on your hammer and chisel. You know exactly what you are doing Doctor, and what is even more disturbing is that... I think you _enjoy_ it."

Tears of terror lined her eyes, her voice trembling as she continued. "Y-You enjoy it far too much that you have to hide your obsession in the Bell Tower, but you cannot hide it from the eyes of God... and I pray that he sends you to Hell for what you have done here!"

She flinched when he suddenly rose to his feet, his chair knocked over by his uncontrollable rage. She knew that she had trespassed into dangerous territory when she had challenged him, but at least she had finally been able to speak what she had been holding back for seven years, and that allowed her to stand her ground against the murderous doctor.

"Get out! LEAVE!" he yelled. "You're FINISHED!"

"One more thing," she calmly interrupted, inhaling and exhaling deeply, "something else that I have kept hidden. I too have seen the shadows. I have felt them watch over me when I slept and touch my face. I have heard their footsteps and listened to their whispers. They will show themselves to you too... and I hope that in the perilous struggle between them... that _you LOSE_."

"_GET OUT!"_ he roared.

She closed the door behind her curtly. For a moment he stood there, silent and fuming as he glared at the door. Keeping his eyes on the door, he picked up his chair and sat down, opening his journal. He slammed it close again when there was a knock at the door. He rose from his chair, but after a moment he chose to ignore it. Only when it came a second time did he march over to answer it. He opened the door, to be greeted by nobody. With a pestered scowl he slammed it, nearly knocking it off its hinges.

* * *

_1930..._

He climbed up the tower stairs hand by hand, his old legs tired from running away from the invisible antagonist still pursuing him. A set of nails raked across his back, not hard enough to break the skin like the other cuts on his body but enough to pump adrenaline through his veins and spark him to run up the stairs faster. His dull nails scratched against the wooden floorboards as he climbed his way up the stairs, continually feeling non-living eyes probing his back every step of the way...

One of the nurses ran to the window when she heard a scream outside. She poked her head out... and her jaw dropped in horror. Other members of the staff and Orderly joined her. As they gawked at the body laying on the ground below she ran down the halls of the Hospital and to the Head Doctor outside.

She ran to his side, the sight of the Doctor's blood pooling from his head making her stomach churn. Startling, he was still alive despite the long fall from the Bell Tower. He writhed and groaned in pain, clutching the nurse's coat in a death grip as she came to kneel by his side.

The two physicians knew his condition was fatal, but she still offered words of encouragement to try and steer his attention away from his agony. Her eyes flashed up for the briefest moment and she screamed...

looming above them was a fine mist, the outline of a man vaguely visible within it.

As it moved towards them she shrieked and jerked away at the Doctor's grip on her coat; refusing to let her leave. She scratched and clawed and twisted, doing everything possible to get him to let go. Only when she sank her teeth into his wrist did he release her, she crawled away backwards, watching as the shadow entered the Doctor's body.

His pained groans quickly turned to gasps of air, his bloody hands reached for his throat as his body began to spasm. Her shaky hand covered her mouth as she watched the scene in utter shock; unable to do anything but stare. Frightened tears spilled from her eyes and over her hand, as she witnessed the Doctor wheeze out his dying breaths...

* * *

_Present..._

The island has long since been abandoned. Untouched by the unwilling natives that knew well enough not to explore the cursed island five miles away. Unfortunately for two Decepticons, who knew nothing about the island nor cared to know, would find themselves stranded for the night.

Stranded on the island often called by the locals as the _'Island of No Return'_...

* * *

**A/N:** _Having done research on this island-- yes, Poveglia does exist-- I have found its history to be quite disturbing and therefore I approach this with the utmost respect. _

**_Here are the facts:_**_ Black Plague victims were taken to that island and dumped. The Head Surgeon and Eva did exist. The conversation with the Head Nurse (My 'OC') was my way of explaining the experiments he performed (yes, he did cut people's head's open). He was supposedly chased by something up the Bell Tower although it is unknown if he fell or was pushed. And lastly, there was a nurse that saw a mist enter his body as he lay dying. _

_I thank you for taking a look at this and I hope you'll stick around for the next one. _

**Next Chapter: **Welcome to Poveglia Casseticons!


	2. They're Here

**A/N:** _Wow, may I say first thank you for all the reviews and alerts! They are very appreciated. :) In this story, I am aiming for a more realistic approach to what encounters with ghosts on Poveglia might be and deciding not to copy the Hollywood swill of horror clichés. At least... I hope there are no clichés in my story. _

_Poveglia is a very hard to find information about and my only source for what the inside of these buildings look like is an incredibly campy but somewhat entertaining show about haunted locations. I wrote what I saw. Who knows, maybe they were props, I don't know-- my hands are tied._

_Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this next chapter and I hope I live up to you lovely reader's expectations. _

* * *

**_Isola Di Poveglia_**

**Chapter 2**

**"They're Here"**

_Karma moves in two directions. If we act virtuously, the seed we plant  
will result in happiness. If we act nonvirtuously, suffering results._  
**- Sakyong Mipham**

* * *

Rumble and Frenzy switched off their anti-gravity and touched down on the island. Standing in a dense forested area, they surveyed the five surrounding buildings. Their mission: to search and recover Soundwave's much needed component that had fallen out of Ramjet's cockpit when he was ambushed by the Aerialbots.

To their left, over the canopy of trees, was a Bell Tower attached to a three story structure that shrunk down into a two story one. To their right were a collection of smaller buildings that resembled many of the other old structures they had seen as they flew over, all painted the same way; old style villas, smudges that resembled the fingerprints of a messy child eating something greasy staining the outside, square and caged windows in perfect distance away from each other. Stone walls crumbling and deteriorating from years of overexposure by the elements. All in all, the buildings were ill-maintained, meaning that there was no one here.

Overgrown and unattended vegetation gave the abandoned island an exotic and almost virgin atmosphere (if you didn't remind yourself that the buildings were built by the fleshies). But it also possessed an eerie foreboding. Frenzy didn't understand the feeling nor could he sort it into a category. There was just something... _off_.

Fear didn't come to ever greet him; if the unwanted feeling ever did, he approached it with pile-drivers. It wasn't the same with this place. He couldn't bash the uneasy feeling. Those sort of invisible foes always lingered around waiting for you to crack, and almost all the time Frenzy lost the battle between them, because a feeling such as this was rarely ever felt by him.

Something hard tapped against his chest. Turning to his twin, he offered a flustered and silent _'what_'; annoyed that he was pulled from his thoughts.

"The boss's component doesn't have anything we can track it with," Rumble sighed, his digits rubbing the side of his helm as if he had an itch. "It's small enough it could be anywhere too."

"Hmm..." Frenzy shrugged, his attention still on the island.

"Ramjet said that it fell into a building," Rumble added after a pause. "He didn't say which one though."

Frenzy had an inclination of what Rumble was going to suggest. Pushing aside his stupid apprehensions about the ominous island, he tiredly raised his arms over his helm as if he was yawning: "A'right. Ya take that half of the island with the tower, and I'll take the other half."

"Piece of carbon cake," Rumble grinned. Frenzy didn't comment.

"Radio me when ya find it," Rumble called behind him as he made his way to the buildings on his half.

Frenzy watched as his brother's silhouette faded and blended into the night and thickets of the dirt trail. Uncomfortable standing alone in the middle of the vegetation, he headed into his half of the island but stopped when he noticed the ghoulish statue of a chubby fleshie with organic wings. An angel, if he recalled his human television correctly. He stared at it briefly, noting it's facial expressions. Frenzy looked away and over to the buildings before turning back to the statue. Instead of a warm and comforting feeling that should have emanated of the statue of an angel, this one seemed to convey a different message. It seemed to be... _malicious_.

Frenzy snorted, pushed the statue over into the brush and stalked away. The figure rolled into the brush along with Frenzy's previous fears. He wasn't going to let a dumb statue spook him _or_ this island! It's just a blot of mud! No... it would take more than _that_...

and the residents of Poveglia welcomed such disrespectful disbelievers...

* * *

_THE HOSPITAL_

Rumble pushed the ivy covered iron gate open, it's creaking cutting like a knife in the chilly air. Having finished his investigation and finding no evidence of Soundwave's component landing in the trees (in case Ramjet was full of slag), he decided to see if the part could have fallen into the buildings after all. He made his way into the building. Foliage and leaves scattered across the entry way and inside the doorway, crunching beneath his metal feet.

He paused briefly, noticing something that he didn't notice before when he was rustling in the bushes. Rarely did his Decepticon duty land him indoors, which allowed him to become accustomed to Earth's natural soundtrack. It wasn't the case here. Not only did the fleshies seem to abandon this island, but so did it's other primitive life-forms.

He heard nothing. No birds, no animals, no insects. _Nothing. _That was a first. His pass-time on a Decepticon mission outdoors was playing with the local inhabitants, but the lack of boredom killers wasn't what was bothering him; it was the _lack_ of them-- period.

Something tapped lightly by his foot and he peered down to see what it was.

It was a head. The head of a femme gazed blankly back up at him. Broken from it's marble body that rested in the corner by a doorway leading to another room. He looked at the femme's cloths briefly; drape, loose, and covered to her feet. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. Amusing himself, he picked up the head, making sure that the femme's eyes were staring at him.

"Alright girlie," Rumble said, talking to the head as if it was alive. "Tell me where the component is or I'll roll your head into the wall."

The head didn't reply, but Rumble playfully took it a different way. "So ya wanna give me the silent treatment, ay? Alright…" Rumble gripped the head in his hand and swung back like a professional bowler. He stopped in mid-swing.

A faint scratching noise coming outside the entry caused him to stop. Standing himself up straight, he juggled the head to his other hand and walked towards it. He peered his head around the corner. As he figured, the wind. The Italian breeze was causing some of the bony branches to scrape alongside the dirty white exterior of the building. Rumble huffed and returned back inside, but if he looked a little more thoroughly, he would have noticed that there wasn't a breeze in the air, nor were the other adjacent trees and vegetation swaying along.

Rumble continued inside the building, moving from cluttered room to cluttered room. He decided to work his way up in the building.

There it was again, the silence. Shouldn't there be some sort of sound on this island?

He entered a large spaced room, chairs and tables centered in the middle, each carrying hardcover books on top of their surface. He placed the marble head on the wooden table with a large_ thunk_. He rubbed the back of his helm and craned his neck upwards. He radioed Frenzy, in need to get his observation corrected.

**((Ya Rumble?))** called Frenzy. Crunching and scraping could be heard in the background. Rumble assumed he was probably still outside.

**((Find it?))** Rumble asked, building up the conversation first.

**((I would have told ya wouldn't I?))** was Frenzy's answer. **((Where are ya?))**

**((I'm in tha big building))** Rumble said. **((I'm gonna to look in here and then I'm gonna check tha Tower.))**

**((Oooo! The Tower! Maybe ya'll be able to see the Autobot Base from there.))** joked Frenzy, laughing over the comm-link. **((I'm gonna be headin' inside soon too. There are a couple of buildings over here. Hey listen, you weren't searching in my area a little while ago were ya?))**

**((Noooo...))** Rumble replied, dragging the vowel of the word to convey his confusion. **((Why would I be lookin' around in your area-- I got my own half of tha island to look at.))**

**((Cause I keep hearing things in the bushes.))** Frenzy said.

**((Maybe you're crazy.))** Rumble snickered, a smile stretching upon his face.

**((Oh hardy-har-har.))** Frenzy disdainfully returned.

**((Maybe it's an animal jumping from tree ta tree.))** Rumble suggested, shrugging.

Rumble didn't catch what Frenzy said next, his attention was directed above him.

_Tack, tack, tack, tack_

Sounded like water running dripping out of a rusty pipe. His optics danced over the ceiling, trying to find the location of the sound above him. When it ceased, he returned back to his conversation with his twin.

**((Whatcha say?))**

**((I said I thought that too but I can't find a slagging animal on this island.))**

**((Huh... I can't either; thought maybe it was just me.)) **Rumble said. The corner of his mouth plate lifted into a disappointed tug.

There it was again; that noise. Except now it traveled to another part of the upstairs, right above him. Boredom and curiosity finally getting the best of him.

**((Hey Frenzy I'll talk to ya later I gotta check something out.))** Rumble called over the link...

* * *

**((Whatevah, see ya.)) **Frenzy returned, closing the link before dropping from his high vantage point in the trees and landing squarely on the ground; the sound of breaking vegetation the only thing entering his audio receptors.

_Fraggit where were all the animals?_

Though he had grown used to the island over the past couple of hours, he still thought the place was kinda creepy. Didn't know what it was, just a feeling in his spark he didn't like. Frenzy looked behind him. The brown-brick tip of the Bell Tower peeked over the canopy of trees. Following his brother, he decided to check out the buildings on his half. _What else was there to do?_

Frenzy sighed and bushwhacked to the first building his optic scanners detected. A white arched entrance greeted him through the heavy undergrowth. The building was small compared to what Rumble was exploring; about the size of a house.

A gust of air ghosted down his left arm. He turned his head towards it, stared for a moment and then brushed his metallic bicep as if an unpleasant bug had landed on him. Thinking nothing of it, he entered inside.

* * *

_THE HOSPITAL_

The aged wooden stairs groaned under Rumble's weight but held him as he climbed to other levels of the building. A white, twisted railing clanged as the femme's head tapped against it. He wasn't sure why he brought the stupid thing... _oh wait, he remembered..._

He stepped into a long corridor, a closed door at the end. Rumble dropped the head and juggled it with his feet like a soccer player. Kicking it as he moved, he headed for the room at the end; start there and then work his way back to the stairs. Seemingly forgetting what his reason for exploring the upstairs was in the first place. He resumed looking for the component, all the while keeping himself entertained.

With a mighty kick, he sent the head into the door, causing it violently to slam open. Rumble smirked slightly and walked into the room. Moonlight through cracks of the boarded up windows greeted him along tables with trays of operating equipment. As was the case in the hallway, panels of wood that appeared to be a door frame scattered and leaned against the walls. A large wooden box with a lid that looked like a cheap vampire's coffin also leaned against the wall, next to an antique berth. Passing by the head, he went over to one of the tables and picked up one of the tools. He had seen one of these before in the Contructicon's Med Lab. It resembled one of Hook's laser scalpels; he recognized them all too well when Hook would wave it threateningly at the twins, ordering them to get out. Rumble chuckled to himself.

**((Hey Frenz!))** called Rumble.

**((Yeah?))**

**((I'm in a fleshie Med Lab!)) **Rumble said, laughing lightly as he looked at the other recognizable tools.

* * *

_(Meanwhile) _

_THE HEAD SURGEON'S OFFICE_

Frenzy flipped through the pages of the book resting on the large desk. **((Good for you.)) **he said indifferently. He looked around at the cluttered office, analyzing and comparing it to the closest thing he knew. **((Feels like I'm in Mixmaster's quarters; this place is a slaggin' mess.))**

**((Where are you?))**

**((I don't know, some building.)) **Frenzy shrugged. He flipped the cover close and continued to walk around the office. **((Was that what you were checking out? To see if the place was a Med Lab?))**

**((Huh?))**

**((You said you needed ta check somethin' out and then you cut off.)) **Frenzy explained to him, lifting and inspecting a small stone human head on the shelf against the wall.

**((Oh yeah! Nah, I was checkin' upstairs for a noise.)) **Rumble explained to him. Frenzy could hear Rumble's feet tap against the stone floor, but it wasn't the only sound he heard over the comm-link.

**((What the slag was that?))**

**((Nothing. Wind blew the door close.))**

**((Hey didn't the boss say that the component radiated heat of it?))** Frenzy questioned, changing the subject.

Frenzy waited for a reply, but received none. Optics narrowing under his visor, he tried again. **((Slagger, I asked you if the component radiated heat or not!))**

Frenzy's irritation increased when Rumble continued to ignore his question._ **((Rumble!))**_

**((Quit that Frenzy!))**

Frenzy had expected Rumble to reply to with as much as annoyance he was giving, but that was not what he heard in Rumble's vocals.** ((What's wrong with you?))** Frenzy asked.

Rumble replied back, the fear that Frenzy had heard previously in his vocals changed into a stony and angered tone. **((I swear if you do that one more time I'm gonna hit ya until your dizzy!))**

**((Huh?)) **

**((Don't 'Huh' me you stupid fragger, I know your playin' around instead of looking for the part.))**

Frenzy walked towards a closed door at another end of the room, jiggled the handle and replied back to Rumble-- **((No bro, tonight I'm actually working))**-- lifting his foot, he kicked in the door, slamming it into the ground and blowing dust and leaves across the room.

* * *

_(Meanwhile) _

_THE MORGUE_

Rumble watched with confused fascination as the statue's head that he brought with him rocked gently back and forth of its own accord. The grinding of stone against stone drifted softly over the room. Cybertronian characters continued to scroll down in his red display, informing him that there was nothing living in the room besides himself. Rumble couldn't help but feel that his readings were lying to him.

For the first time since arriving on the island, he began to feel very uncomfortable and grasped onto the last possible explanation like a life-raft in the middle of a vast and stormy ocean.

**((I don't know what you're doin' but it ain't funny.))**

**((What am I doin'?)) **Frenzy asked, inquisitively annoyed.

The shuffling of feet appeared again, Rumble turned towards it but found no body to accompany the recognizable sound. **((I said quit playing around! I know you're here, Frenzy.))**

**((Idiot I'm not anywhere near you!))**

Rumble huffed with doubt. Flustered, he checked for Frenzy's location...

**((Ya you are, you're...))**

Rumble stiffened when his display found his true location. He _wasn't_ anywhere near him. A shudder ran through him when he felt a cold patch of air across his back. He turned and found no one. His audio receptors picked up nothing but the sound of his own movements against the floor. Still scanning the room, his hand reached behind his back and touched the grip of his gun...

A sharp sting in his check guard caused him to jump back and fall into one of the feeble wooden tables. It broke under his weight as he clutched his face in surprise. Alarmed, he crawled backwards before he picked himself up again and drew his weapon out in front of him. Three stinging lines throbbed across his face...

Something had_ scratched_ him.

**((Yeah... not anywhere near you slag-head.))** Frenzy finished on the other side of the comm-link.

Rumble continued to gaze around the room, looking for it's other occupant. There was no other explanation; someone was in the room with him and clearly saw Rumble as a threat.

Rumble froze; the energon coursing through his systems running cold as he stared at the dark, human shaped cloud in his red visor.

From what he could see, there was nothing in the room the human could hide behind; it was as if the shadow was its own person. It was faceless, but he could still feel those soft human optics glide along every feature of him; the thought sent a chill through him. Neither he nor the shadow made a move.

A sea of different emotions churned inside him; agitation, fear and confusion. After several minutes of doing nothing but stare at it, he began to get bored and his fear of the shadow began to disappear. After all... it was _just _human.

Straitening himself, he raised his weapon...

"Scratch THIS fleshie!"

The wall broke apart by the blast of Rumble's firearm, leaving a large hole... _behind_ it. It still continued to do nothing, as if he had never shot it. Rumble had to reboot his optics_._ _There was no way he had missed!_

Rumble jumped when something hard hit the floor behind him. He turned to find that the lid of the box lying in the middle of the floor. Immediately he turned back to the shadow and found nothing but the large gaping hole he had made.

Rumble frantically searched for it around the room, his desperation increasing with every passing astro-second. Trepidation filled the room and suffocated him. Seeing it was one thing, but not being able to see it was entirely different. Whatever it was he couldn't blast it, couldn't swing a punch at it when he couldn't even see it. The unknown was frightening and that was exactly what he was facing at the moment.

Rumble stiffened when he felt air blow at the back of his neck in a repetitive and rhythmical pattern. If he wasn't mistaken, it felt like...

Rumble had _more_ than enough, so he did the next logical thing that came to his processor.

He ran.

He ran out of that room and into the hallway and down the stairs he went. He skidded to a halt when he reached the entrance he had come through and wiped his hands over his body.

"Ugghlahh!" Rumble cried in disgust, wiping his hands over his body as if he was infested with germs. He calmed himself, but one spasmodic shiver snaked up his circuitry, as if still being able to feel the thing _breathing_ on him. Rumble ran his left hand over his visor, down his scratched cheek guard and around the nape of his neck...

Rumble backed away from the approaching footsteps behind him. His ventilation systems whirred back to life as the startling truth dawned on him.

It was _following_ him.

Rumble stalked out of the building, increasing his speed as he neared the door, out of the building and back into the vegetation.

* * *

_THE HEAD SURGEON'S OFFICE_

Frenzy hunched over to get a better look at the contents of one of the jars on the shelves. He cupped his chin, trying to figure what was in it. It's contents were squishy that much was for sure. He grabbed it and brought it to closer to his optics for further inspection. Finally he recognized it and furrowed his optic bridges, a disgusted look cast upon his features. Images from fleshie horror films clarified what they were.

Human internal organs.

He poked the lid, his digit trampolining off the tight cloth. He placed the jar back in it's place carefully, as if fearing his grip would shatter the glass and the slimy substance would coat his hand.

He stared at it once more before shaking his head in disbelief that he had touched something as vile as animal parts-- even if they were in jars.

His head tipped to the side when a _creaking_ entered his audios. He turned his head over his shoulder plates and noticed the wheelchair rolling on it's tires. Years of neglect causing the metallic squeak. Rumble quirked a metallic brow, befuddled as to what could be causing the object to move on it's own. It ceased and he shrugged; probably the wind.

Frenzy looked about the ceiling, looking for a hole in the roof where the component could have fallen. Frustrated to find none, he headed for the exit; he had spent more than enough time in this building and it was time to move on.

Painful static in his audio receptors glued him to the floor. As it increased, his hands crept closer to the sides of his helm; it hurt like slag. He clamped his hands over his audio receptors, his dental plates bared in agony as it continued to intensify.

Then it vanished. Frenzy shook his head, his optics rebooting. He hit the heel of his hand against the right side of his helm.

_That was weird..._ he thought to himself.

As he passed through the exit of the door, as sudden feeling of dread engulfed him. He stood outside, his shoulders slumping forward slightly as damp and cold feeling took control of his emotions. He clutched his hand over his spark chamber, feeling it spinning slower and slower. A cough escaped his intakes and he slumped forward, leaning his head against one of the stone pillars. He groaned miserably, it felt as if his systems were shutting down one by one with every passing second. He stumbled away, nearly tripping down the stairs.

As he made his way to another building, he began to feel better. With each step his strength began to return.

**((Frenzy where are ya?!))** called his twin over the comm-link.

Frenzy sighed tiredly as he made his way through the vegetation, dizzy and a little unsure of where he was going. **((I don't know, I'm just walking right now.))**

Frenzy looked over his shoulder, a rush of phobia clouding around him; feeling as if someone was staring at his back.

He turned to find nothing, but still there was something that didn't feel normal. A noise in the distance was heard, making him spin towards it...

* * *

_(Meanwhile) _

_OUTSIDE THE LABORATORY_

Rumble whipped his head when he heard the distant '_tong' _coming from the Bell Tower. He pressed his back against the wall, as if trying to hide himself from the fleshies that might see him below. It was coming from the Bell Tower and he didn't like it. It reminded him of a klaxon blaring, signaling for something.

His communicator beeped. **((Hey Rumble ya hear that or is it just me?))**

**((No... I hear it too...))**

**((You alright?))** Frenzy asked.** ((Ya sound funny.))**

Rumble shook his head. Even when he had run away from the aggressive humans, there was no comfort in being outside either. He was looking around more often, checking everything. His spark continually telling him there was something wrong; the whole place just screamed it. Yeah he had been okay before, but that was before he shot the fleshie and witnessed it's immortality. The tables were turned, the humans could hurt him... and he couldn't do slag about it. The fact that they had no fear of them, were invisible and had no regard for personal space was probably the most unsettling of all.

If this mission wasn't important, he would have left as soon as he got out of the Med Lab. He was constantly in a state of paranoia, it felt like a thousand optics were watching him and he couldn't see them.

**((I'm fine...)) **he falsely replied, regaining himself for the briefest moment to respond.

There was a slight pause at the end of the comm-link.** ((Are you... _sure_, Rumble?)) **asked Frenzy, almost sounding as if he wanted to badger him, but held it back.

Rumble didn't reply, a sinking feeling entering his spark. Then his optics slanted, a rare epiphany came to him.

The organics were trying to scare him-- and doing a pretty good job at it too. He continued to ponder on his predicament. The more and more he thought, the more he realized that they probably didn't like the idea of Decepticons invading their place and that's why they weren't so friendly to him-- or running away screaming like they usually did. He smiled thinly. No... he wasn't scared of the fleshies, a scratch was nothing compared to the battle wounds he received over countless years; they got lucky was all.

**((No.))** He responded with a little more confidence. **((I ain't scared of nothin'!))**

Rumble ended his conversation with Frenzy and detached himself away from the wall. Turning around to face the structure, he set off back indoors, resuming his duties and pushing the encounter aside for now; remembering later he would repay them back, but for now he had to work.

Unaware that his mindless boast was about to be corrected.

* * *

_THE OVEN..._

_Fraggit, this was a stupid idea..._

Frenzy swiped his hands at the tangling brush, cursing to himself for leaving the dirt path and instead following his moronic idea of stumbling through the thickets to the Bell Tower and then redirecting himself from there. Well... it wasn't_ his entire_ fault; he was still dizzy when he decided upon doing it. He was still trying to understand why his systems had failed all of a sudden; perhaps a lack of recharge and energy when he and Rumble were up watching human horror movies last cycle.

_Why couldn't that stupid Conehead come back and retrieve the component, himself?_ Frenzy bitterly thought. _It was his fault after all--_

"Dah!" Frenzy cried, a vocal reflex from the vine catching around his leg and causing him to fall face first into the growth. A little annoyed at himself, he thrashed around in the growth like a sparkling throwing a tantrum, untangling himself before standing back up, an irritated huff escaping him. He resumed his march through the Italian jungle before coming to a halt.

A crumpled white stone structure that resembled a boxy human shed came into view and against the wall was a fleshie. Well not really a fleshie, looked more like it's shadow. _So... where the was it's squishy body?_

It glided along the wall and disappeared entirely when it ran out of structure, evaporating into the night. A little confused, he continued to look for it; seeing where it ran off. Failing to find it, he continued to walk around the structure, seeing if the component was in this area. His optics fixed on the ground as he searched, his footsteps breaking vegetation and imprinting in dirt with each slow step.

A hard thud made him look up briefly, unable to identify what it was he resumed his search, keeping his audios open.

He reached a thick section and began to paw through it. His hand tapped against something that felt like a rock, but lighter. Reaching further in he closed his hand around it and pulled it up. It was rounded and smooth on the back, he tossed it over and caught it, his optics meeting two black holes where human eyes should have been. It had no bottom jaw.

It was a human skeleton-- a head to be more specific.

He turned back to it with a disgusted look and dropped it from his hand immediately; shaking his hands in the air as if it was covered in cosmic rust.

He clamped his hands over his audio receptors, the painful static returning. It faded after a few astro-seconds, considerably shorter than the first time. _What was that anyway?_

What felt like the tips of spider legs crawled over his shoulders and rested themselves there. Frenzy froze uncomfortably, his optics widening in alarm as a chilly wind pounded at the back of his neck. Only when one of the tips caressed the nape of his neck did he panic.

"GET OFF!" he cried, springing away from the human that was touching him. He turned to face the meatbag, preparing to teach him a lesson about personal space...

There was no one there.

Frenzy danced around, trying to locate the human. "Where the frag'd you go?" he said, speaking mainly to himself.

Frenzy scanned the trees, seeing if he was hiding behind them. From what he could tell, he was the only one in the area. He switched to thermal, looking for a blot of red and orange in the shape of a human.

It was a floating orb, but it was close enough.

"There ya are," Frenzy smirked malevolently. It bobbed by the wall of the building. Something whooshed by him, it's wind blowing by across his side. He scanned for it and found the orange orb bouncing away from him; heading into the trees. _Another fleshie? Where'd he come from?_

He returned back to the first human, finding that it had moved away from him and also into the trees. He switched his thermal off. He scratched his helm, unsure what to make of the strange encounter.

He decided to increase the decibels in his audio receptors, just in case a fleshie decided to sneak up on him again. That was another stupid idea...

As he approached the structure closer, attempting to pass it, an energon-curdling wail echoed from inside. Alarmed he ran away and into the trees, instinct telling him to slag his Decepticon disposition.

Certain that he was far enough away, he stopped and let a shiver creep up his body. _Slaggit what is **wrong **with these fleshies..?_ There had to be some kind of explanation! They have _never_ acted like this; it was if they weren't afraid of them at all!

_Alright..._he calmed himself, intaking some much needed air to cool his overheated circuitry. What did he know about them? They were invisible except for the shadow part, they were fearless compared to other organics. They were the only ones on this island if there were truly no animals which he was staring to believe. They screamed at him, touched him, breathed on him and they showed up as tiny orange orbs on thermal.

_Well, that wasn't right. That wasn't typical meat bag behavior._

He pondered for a few moments, leaning against a tree, tapping his balled up fists against his forehead as if trying to pound the answer into his processor. He got tired of trying to compute the information manually and failing to come up with a logical answer-- he caved and searched the human _Internet_ for answers.

He scrolled down the pages, noticing a pattern. They were mostly paranormal sites. Going on a hunch, he added _paranormal _in his list of keywords. Another page of websites popped up. The first couple of sites where about UFO's and as he scrolled down further the subject changed to ghosts.

He stopped at ghosts, the UFO theory a too little ludicrous for him. UFO's were stupid fleshie folk lore. Ghosts on the other hand... that was similarity in both human and Cybertronian worlds. He opened the website, poring through the information about the different types of ghosts and the activity that surrounded them.

He found himself stopping at one word... _electrostatic. _His thoughts raced back to the unexplained static that he gotten twice on this island. The first time he got it he was in the house and then he walked outside feeling funny. The second time, it had touched him. Could the static of been a warning that there was a ghost around him? He continued to read on, learning about them further and matching up his experience with the information presented to him on the website. As much as he hated trusting his faith into something paranormal and not completely sound, it all did seem to line up.

Animals knew better to step foot on this place, he most likely got sick from passing through one, the thought sent an involuntary shudder through him, and they were making noises and touching him to get his attention. A worried expression crossed his face.

_Great..._ _they are gonna keep bothering us until we leave and we can't go until we find Soundwave's part. We're stuck._

He ran a hand over his face, slumping against the tree and groaned painfully. "I _hate _this islan--"

He screamed and peeled himself away from the tree when something icy pushed against the pectoral plates,_ just _under his neck. Frightened by the sudden action, he scampered away from it as fast as the brush would let him. He picked up his pace into a sturdy run, heading for Rumble's side of the island. This was clearly a place that he couldn't explore alone any longer.

* * *

_THE LABORATORY_

Rumble wished he had stayed outside to find Frenzy like he had initially planned. He didn't understand it, if the human wanted to be invisible why did they _clang,_ _bang,_ throw and knock over things in his direction?

_Why?!_ A voice his processor screamed. _Because they are trying to scare you dummy. Smack 'em around, don't let them scare you!_

Rumble entered what appeared to be a small office. In front of him was a cluttered desk; to the left was a medical stretcher and an open cabinet lining the right side of the room revealing doctor coats inside. He tipped his body to the side, noticing a life-size medical skeleton in the corner hiding behind the cabinet. Hand drawn sketches of the human circulatory system hung over a wall of jars. Rumble inched closer to them, seeing what was inside.

He had seen enough human flicks to vaguely recognize them all. One was a human processor (brain he think it was called), another a spark, (heart, was that the word?) and the other one was a foot. The last jar left him laughing.

Rumble suddenly exhaled, beyond annoyed. "If you follow me one more time I'm gonna break ya knee joints!"

The footsteps continued, biting into his patience once more. He turned back to the doorway and they ceased. He waited, staring at the gaping doorway. A shadow flew past it, looking as if it was trying to run fast enough that Rumble wouldn't notice it.

"I still saw ya," Rumble spat, his trigger finger itching. "Why don't ya come out and play, meat bag?"

Nothing.

"Pffht!"

**((Rumble where are ya!))**

**((I'm in the building next to the other big building.))** Rumble answered. **((You find any fleshies?))**

**((They're ghosts Rumble, they ain't regular fleshies!))**

**((What're ya talkin' about?))** Rumble demanded. **((How do ya know they're ghosts?))**

**((Cause one came after me!))** Frenzy said. **((I looked it up on the human information pages-- trust me they're ghosts!))**

**((You're glitchin', Frenz.))**

**((Look it up yourself dumb aft! And if I have been seeing things... I know you have too.))**

Rumble's head bobbed impatiently. He clicked into the Internet search engines and typed in _'ghost'_, not expecting anything.

Rumble continued to read page after page of information on different websites, each new tidbit that mirrored his experience in the Morgue starting to unnerve him. Minute after minute, Rumble began to agree with Frenzy; the island and it's uncanny mood itself was enough to convince him.

Rumble's ventilation ceased when he thought about the dreaded word. His spark whirred faster and his energon ran cold. _Ghosts...?_ He shivered, his widened optics staring into space as the most horrifying scenes from the human movie 'Poltergeist' he and Frenzy had watched last cycle continually played through his CPU. Ghost stories he heard back on Cybertron also helped to add more terror.

His optics slowly drifted back to the dark doorway where the shadow passed. The confidence and bravado that he had worked up from outside vanished faster than Skywarp when he teleported. A regular fleshie playing jokes he could have handled, all you had to do was kill them. A ghost on the other hand could _kill him _if it felt like it and there would be nothing could do to stop it; a very terrifying knowledge, especially knowing he was not alone.

**((Wha-Wha do I do...?)) **Rumble trembled. **((There's one outside the room I jus' came in.))**

**((Is there a window in the room?))** Frenzy asked.

**((No!)) **Rumble backed into the desk when a thud echoed off the walls of the corridor outside his room.

**((Ummm.... just run out really fast.))**

**((WHAT!? Slag you Frenzy! I ain't going out there so it can get me!))**

**((Fine! Wait for it to come get ya then, stupid!)) **Frenzy paused over the link, before he replied back with a more comforting, but still agitated tone. **((Just sit tight; I'm headed over to your location. They won't bother us if we are together.))**

Although Frenzy's statement was promising and seemed to offer him a glimmer of hope, he couldn't help but think it was false.

He turned when he felt a breeze past him, he recoiled and backed away from it, bumping into the stretcher and staring at the right side of the room... _waiting_. After a few grueling minutes listening to nothing but silence, the cabinet door vibrated softly as if it was being electrocuted and then slammed violently. An involuntarily scream escaped him as he sprinted to the door, trying to get away from the presence that entered the room after him. He raced down the stairs, slipping and skidding down the rest of the way like a bumpy playground slide, holding onto the sides of the stairway to prevent him from rolling down them.

He sprang outside, jumped over the steps and ended up falling to the dirt. Picking himself back up, he ran along the sides of the building in search for the only other robot on the island.

"Behind ya!" called a familiar voice.

Rumble turned to see his brother's unmistakable figure approach him. Relief lifted the iron weighted fear off of him-- but not completely. The feeling of a thousand eyes watching him still set his circuits ablaze with anxiousness.

Frenzy ran up to him and put a hand on his shoulder plates like a runner after an endeverous marathon. He also exhaled a sigh of relief out of his intakes with his brother. Frenzy and Rumble glanced at each other, unsure what to say about the new unexpected discovery on the island.

"Out of all the places for that glitcher Ramjet to drop the boss's component," Rumble spat disdainfully, "We get the place where the fleshies come after ya!"

* * *

**A/N:** _The only thing added was the skull in the brush that Frenzy picked up and I will forever hate my brother for letting me watch Poltergeist when I was little. Clown dolls and trees eating children is something that scars you when you're six. So in my mind I thought that would be a movie that would surely trigger panic attacks in a ghost infested building. I don't know... that's my reasoning for mentioning it. (shrug)_

_Well, hope I kept you all entertained! Thanks again for reading. :)_

**Next Chapter:** The search continues...


	3. On Walks the Night

**A/N:** _Thank you once again for all the kind reviews/favs/alerts. You guys have really made this story so much more special. ^^ _

_Sadly my dears, this is the last chapter. But I hope you will enjoy the ride nonetheless._

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Transformers. Chapter title inspired by musician Jesse Cook.

* * *

**_Isola Di Poveglia_**

**Chapter 3**

**"On Walks the Night"**

* * *

Rumble wished he had lied to Frenzy instead of telling him he had only managed to investigate _two_ rooms of many in the Hospital. Now Frenzy was dragging him back to the very building he was chased out of. It didn't matter how many times Rumble had pointed to the three lines on his cheek guard, Frenzy still insisted on thoroughly searching every building.

_'So they didn't have to waste time and go back'_ Frenzy kept reminding him.

"I still say we ditch," Rumble piped as the door came into view, inwardly hoping that Frenzy would eventually succumb and agree with him.

"We can't return back without it. Megatron will blow a fuel cable. Ramjet already made him good an' mad." Frenzy repeated for the fourth time.

"Fragging slagger!" Rumble cried, kicking the dirt and leaves. "If he didn't get pounded by Megatron he could have come back and fraggin' got it!"

"And save us from the spookies," Frenzy concluded with a disdainful nod, he scanned the Hospital, looking at the windows in the upper level. "We gotta find the component-- THEN we can leave."

Rumble pointed a grudging finger at the Hospital. "I ain't going back in there! Every time I set foot in one of those places somethin' comes after me! You can go in Frenzy but I'm staying out here!"

"Fine stay out here!" Frenzy retaliated. Frenzy's hands flew in the air, as if he was about to bash his brother, but after a sigh he relaxed them; calming himself. Frenzy lifted a threatening finger at him and said: "But they are out here too, ya know. _I_ got attacked outside."

Rumble's scowl disappeared instantly.

"So if you want to stay out here-- _all by yourself_-- be my guest Rumble," continued Frenzy, "but don't go crying to me when they touch ya and breathe on ya. They don't give a slag where ya are."

Rumble face crumpled into a saddened look when he took another quick gaze at the Hospital. He knew Frenzy was right, there was no way they could return to the Nemesis without Soundwave's weapon part and he sure as slag didn't want to look for it alone again. Although, it was still hard to determine which situation he would rather face: returning empty handed or going back and letting the ghosts attack them while they searched.

Frenzy could see Rumble's mental debate written all over his face. The scanners in his optics rolled. True he would rather leave the island too, but there was a job to be done no matter the obstacles. He grabbed Rumble's arm and pulled him along.

"We gotta couple more buildings then we can leave, alright?" Frenzy said, trying his best to comfort his brother.

Rumble didn't respond and tugged slightly against Frenzy's grip.

"Alright!?" Frenzy forcefully repeated, jerking back. Rumble still made no response; his attention was not on his brother, but focused on a Hospital window. Frenzy began to grow concerned whe Rumble's face tightened and a shaky sigh escaped him-- he was afraid.

"What?" Frenzy asked, looking above to spot what was making Rumble so nervous. He saw nothing. "What's the matter with you?"

Rumble focused his attention back on Frenzy. "They're waiting for us, Frenz. They're gonna... they're gonna do somethin' bad, I just know it."

"Primus Rumble..." groaned Frenzy as he wiped a hand over his face. "How many times do I have to tell ya? They ain't gonna bother us if we are together. We'll be fine. We get in, we get out. Simple."

Rumble shook his head like a defiant sparkling. Frenzy furrowed his optic bridges. _What was it that suddenly scared him so bad?_

Frenzy formed his face as stonily as he could. "Do ya _really_ wanna tell Megatron the reason why we didn't get the part was because of ghosts-- _human_ ghosts?"

Rumble flinched; thinking heavily about Frenzy's statement. He was right; they _had_ to do this. He was going to have to suck it up-- who knows maybe the ghosts wouldn't follow them if they were together. Rumble hoped so, it was the only thing motivating him step back in the building.

But just in case Frenzy was wrong...

"Don't say I didn't tell ya so..." was all that Rumble said before he let Frenzy lead him to the doorway; the headless angel greeting him once again.

_

* * *

_

_THE HOSPITAL_

Rumble and Frenzy stepped lightly together to the last two rooms left to explore. Each of their reluctant movements emanating a creak or groan, playing along to the organic music the ghosts also added. From stone thumps and metallic clangs, to the sound of shuffled footsteps down a darkened corridor, there was no note left untouched, continually flooding the pair with terror. It was as if the entire Hospital was singing a melancholy tune-- a dirge.

They entered one of the two rooms, passing by tables and storing cabinets for holding medicine, on alert in case something was thrown at them. Like most of the rooms on Poveglia, it was in serious need of a cleaning bot. The beds were dirty and stained by water damage; some were stacked on top of each other like football players in a dog-pile. Above them, lights hung by feeble thread-like cables; possible safety hazards.

An irate Rumble stared at the back of Frenzy's helm with a murderous glare. As he had thought, Frenzy was full of slag when he said they would stop following them if they reunited and looked together for the component. They were even _more _active.

Rumble stared around the room. "Why can't they leave us the frag alone and haunt each other!" he suddenly cried. "Why do they keep bothering me? I ain't done nothin!"

Frenzy turned away from the bed he was looking at and met Rumble's agitated face, he knew it was an inappropriate moment to make a joke at Rumble expense, but it popped in his processor so quickly he just couldn't resist.

"Maybe it likes you," Frenzy jested with a smile. "Maybe--"

The back of Frenzy's legs buckled as the bed he was standing by lurched forward and pushed him. Frenzy yelped in surprise, his cry making Rumble scream; a natural chain reaction. Balancing himself so he didn't fall over Frenzy took a couple of stabilizing steps forward-- far away from the possessed bed.

Frenzy let out an inept chuckle-- spooked yes, but he wasn't hurt.

"What the frag is wrong with you?" Rumble demanded, not as easily _scared silly_. "How come they don't bother you as much?"

Frenzy jerked a thumb behind him at the bed. "Ya saw it move didn't ya."

"The part is not in here, let's get outta this room-- they obviously don't like us in here," Rumble suggested urgently.

Frenzy followed Rumble out of the room and into the next one. The room was exactly identical to the other medical room, only with fewer beds. They entered and once again resumed their Easter egg hunt for the component. For a few minutes, they did nothing but search around the room in silence. Frenzy made his way to the end of the room, Rumble behind him and nervously rummaging through things. Another ghostly sound entered the room, sounding like a finger flicking against one of the metal bedposts. Frenzy followed the sound until he found where it was coming from. Rumble quickly walked away from it, the sound coming from a bed very close to him.

Frenzy noticed it stopped shortly after Rumble had shuffled away from it. Maybe it was a coincidence, but it also pointed out something that Frenzy hadn't realized before.

"Ya know somethin'," began Frenzy as his head ducked underneath one of the beds, "they weren't bothering me this much when you weren't with me. You're like a fragging magnet, Rumble."

"No I ain't!"

"Are too."

"Are NOT!"

"I'm not seeing it in this room either; let's head out and to the other buildings," Frenzy said, quickly changing the subject before heading for the door. "Are too..." he added as he peered over his shoulder plates at Rumble's back.

The clanging of a metallic tray hitting the floor caused Rumble to utter a sharp cry and turn. "GO AWAY!"

"That was me dummy," Frenzy said, kicking the fallen tray away. "I knocked it over."

"Ye dumb aft!" Rumble cried angrily, his circuits jittery. "I fraggin' hate you!"

Frenzy rolled his optics. "It's not like I did it on purpose..." Frenzy trailed off when he looked at something above him. "Whoa, that light above is swinging... see it?"

A bitter Rumble kept his optics focused on the ground. "Ya I see it, it's slagging great."

The twins jumped in surprise, staring in petrified awe at the wooden chair that was suddenly flung from one side of the room to the other. Frenzy gasped, realizing that if he had taken a couple of steps further he would have been in the chair's path. A static twinge very softly entered his audios, enough to bother him but not hurt him like the previous times.

"I think we should get outta this building," Frenzy murmured, his senses spinning as his optics panned around the room. "They _really_ don't like us here."

"I think we should get off of this fragging island!" Rumble said, adding his two cents.

Carefully the two trekked out, hoping the next buildings they went to would be not as inhabited with spirits...

* * *

_THE CREMATORIUM_

Rumble and Frenzy walked along the narrow path by water side of the Hospital, the Bell Tower at their back. Doing nothing but listening to the waves as they hugged the stone algae stained sides gently. For a solid thirty minutes, the ghosts had not made any noises nor did anything to remind them of their existence on the island. Frenzy would never have thought that their silence could have been more excruciating than hearing them. He actually _preferred_ them to make noises-- he would at least know where they were!

Rumble was the opposite. For whatever reason, the ghosts had enjoyed reactions out of him more than Frenzy (or at least in his imagination) and found the silence actually pleasant; it meant that they weren't following them. If they were, they would try and scare them. In Rumble's logic, no noise equaled no ghost, therefore a momentarily relaxed Rumble.

Despite their conflicting opinions about the silence, they had found themselves coming to their first agreement since they teamed up on the island-- to save the Bell Tower for last.

Both seemed to share the uneasy feeling that emanated from the Tower. Frenzy was apprehensive towards it-- Rumble clearly more-- maybe it was just him, but there was just something... _evil_ about it. Every time he looked back at it, he got a cold feeling. It was like it was the control station that communicated to the ghosts of which sinister acts to play on them next. There was nothing good that would come in stepping foot in it. He would have to wait until he was ready, or he could convince Rumble to go in for him-- which wasn't likely. Either way, he hoped the next building had the component so he would never have to climb it's stairs.

As they reached the end, they rounded the corner and approached the next building. A seemingly larger structure than the Head Surgeon's Office but more desecrated. They walked alongside, alert for any footsteps that didn't belong to them or any large thud from thrown objects smashing against stone walls. They entered through the door-less opening and found themselves greeted by a small, closed brick oven in the wall.

They passed by it and entered into a somewhat empty room; it's only contents where two large iron-rusted barrel shaped ovens. Immediately they began their search for the component, checking behind the iron chambers and under them. Looking up at the ceiling for any holes where is could have fallen through. Frenzy knelt down and peered under one of them, a set of feet walked by.

He inhaled sharply, choking on his scream. He fell back on his aft and glared at the owner of the feet.

"Dammit Rumble!"

"What?" Rumble asked, a confused look on his face; completely unaware of what he done.

Frenzy threw him an irked look. "Never mind," he said. Frenzy stood back up, resuming his search. After a few minutes he stopped, casting a glance at the ovens. Frenzy stared at them, his finger tapping by his side; pondering. Frenzy's head shot to the side, a small gasp escaping him. "Ya hear that?" he asked.

"Don't do that now Frenzy," Rumble pleaded tiredly. "They haven't been bothering us and I want to keep it that way-- it's just your processor playing tricks on you."

Frenzy tapped a finger to the side of his helm, activating his recording system when he heard the sound. It was faint; like the sound of wind blowing through a keyhole but he defiantly heard it though. He played it back and increased the volume. It didn't sound like anything, then... he heard it... a male moan. Frenzy immediately shut off the recording, standing frozen. Rumble paused when he saw Frenzy standing still with his finger on the side of his helm. He narrowed his optics in confusion.

"What are ya doing?"

Frenzy removed his digit and shook his head. "Just thinkin..." he responded, pausing to fish for something to add."What do you think happened here?"

"Huh?" Rumble came, his vocals bouncing off the walls. "I don't know. What are you thinking?"

Frenzy bit his bottom lip component as he stared at the ovens. "Well... if it was a fleshie Med Lab... why would they need these huge smelters? Don't you go to Med Labs to get repaired?"

"Not the Contructicon's Med Lab. Well... _painlessly_," Rumble said, looking at the ovens. "It was probably for scrap metal and junk."

"Yeah, maybe..." Frenzy nodded, but after a pause. "It's just that... why would they build smelters right next to the Med Labs? What kind of scrap metal would ya burn in a squishy Med Lab anyway? Humans can't replace parts--"

A chill crept up Rumble's spinal seem, seeing where Frenzy was kinda getting at. "I don't wanna hear anymore! The ghosts ain't botherin us, let's get to the other building and hope it's in there so we don't have ta go in that slagging Tower."

Rumble made his way out of the room, Frenzy soon followed after him, taking a last cautious glance over the smelters, his optics checking once more for any stray shadows on the walls.

Rumble was already out of the doorway when Frenzy approached, passing by the small oven in the wall. Rumble jumped and screamed, frantically fanning his pointed index finger in Frenzy's direction. Frenzy stopped and looked around him, trying to find the reason for Rumble's hysterics.

He fixed his optics to the side... he screamed and cowered back, crashing into Rumble. Both twins nearly shorted out their vocals as he watched the heavy door of the oven swing open by itself, indicating that there was a presence mere inches from them.

Frenzy unconsciously and unceremoniously pushed Rumble to the ground and out of his way, trying to get as far away from the building as possible. Rumble soon followed Frenzy closely after the door came to a stop.

_

* * *

_

_THE QUARANTINE BUILDING_

The twins knew as soon as they stepped into the room, they did not like it at all. Besides the doorway allowing leaf-shaped ivory prints of moonlight to creep in, it was ethereally dark and smelled terrible... like rotting flesh. They brightened their optics, allowing them to see more clearly what was in the room. Along the walls of the buildings hung shackles and other wicked torture devices; saws and metallic wires made the bulk of it. The building curved further into the dark; there was more building to explore. Rumble's feet stayed rooted to the ground.

Next to the Tower a torture chamber was the last place he wanted to venture into.

Frenzy placed his hands on Rumble's shoulders. "Right behind ya," he assured with a slight push. Rumble picked his heavy feet up, Frenzy removing his hands and following him in.

They continued walking in, shuffling down the hallway to what appeared to be a room at the end, continually passing by things that would make even Ravage cautious.

Frenzy let out a frightened yelp and jumped into Rumble, throwing his twin stumbling down the hallway. Frenzy whirled around, backing into his twin. Looking around wildly.

"Quit pushing me Frenzy!"

"Just go Rumble, just go," Frenzy barked, hurrying his twin away into the room, cluttered with new toys of torture. A small rest table held the remains of human parts and next to it a long berth with restraining straps on it.

"This whole island is just gets worse where ever we go," Rumble shook his head, the energon in his circuitry pumping with anxiety. "I hate this place! I hate it. I hate it. I HATE IT!"

"Do ya hate it?" Frenzy sarcastically asked.

"Shut up glitcher," Rumble spat. "Why'd ya scream anyway? What'd it do?"

"It grabbed my hand," Frenzy said, scanning around the room and in the hallway; in case they ran past the component.

"I'm taking a sterilizing bath when we get back, then I'm gonna get steal some High Grade," Rumble stopped himself, thinking thoroughly when he noticed a rusty saw swinging on its hook. "I changed my mind-- High Grade first."

Frenzy's spark descended in a pit of dismay when he carefully looked around the room. It wasn't in here, which meant they couldn't leave until they made a stop at the dreaded Bell Tower. He grumbled, a sore frown cast upon his face.

He deftly placed his clenched fist on the table, his anger rising with every passing second. He pounded the table as his frustration increased. He punched it harder and harder until he broke the table in two. He continued to kick them into splinters and smashed the human bones into dust, taking his bottled fury upon the inanimate objects as if they were the very ghosts that had been stalking them.

Rumble watched him, completely understanding his actions but still a little concerned. Frenzy had been his somewhat sturdy rock and now he was beginning to crack. It was not a good sign for the both of them.

Frenzy hunched his shoulders, running a hand over his visor and face. Turning sharply, he briskly marched out of the room.

"Let's go, Rumble," Frenzy ordered in a blunt voice, "the sooner the better."

* * *

_THE BELL TOWER_

Powerful sensations of a noxious nature stabbed into them as they approached the thorny structure, reluctance slowing their steps as they made their way to it. Each trembled with a different variety of emotions. Rumble cast a glance over to Frenzy, to see how he was fairing.

Frenzy glared at the structure with glowing malice. A snarl set upon his face plate. He just knew it... there _had_ to be one up there; just waiting for them to enter. He was sick and tired. He was done. He had enough. He was tired of constantly looking over his shoulder plates or waiting for something to brush his hand. _Done!_

He marched up to the Tower door and kicked it open, the hinges ripped from the wall with a loud snap as pieces of the torn wall scattered across the ground like marbles.

Without thinking he stormed in, determined to race through, search quickly and leave. Rumble shuffled in behind him, looking right and left as if he was crossing the intersection of a street.

Frenzy's optics immediately found the stairs and began to climb them. The square-spiraled stairs lined along the sides of the Tower. Rumble scanned them with an uneasy feeling. _Would they hold their weight?_

Rumble chased after Frenzy as he already began to round the corner into the second set. He slowed when he heard the paint-chipped steps groaning under his footing-- a warning.

Frenzy reached for anything possible to grab onto when he foot suddenly punched through the wood. Reality and logical outcomes invaded his spark, replacing the blind hate he felt before and instantly leaving him a more rational and cautious 'Con.

"You alright?" asked Rumble, freezing on the stairs.

"Fine," Frenzy grunted as he pulled himself up, the stairs creaking under his efforts. As Rumble set foot on the set of stairs that Frenzy was on, he felt them buckle.

"Rumble get off, it ain't gonna hold the both of us," Frenzy instructed, sadly sighing when he realized that he was going to have to be the one to climb the tower alone; he was already the closest one to the top.

Rumble tilted his head upwards, seeing the ivory glow of moonlight seeping in through the gaping hole above. "Alright..."

Rumble carefully broke a section of the railing, big enough for him to get through, jumped and turned on his anti-gravity to slow his fall. His landing echoed through the room like a Buddhist Kong. He watched his brother continue to work his way up, his movement as fast as a turtle-tron. Rumble walked out and placed his back against the side. Crossing his arms over his chest he waited, watching as night transformed to dawn. As he stood there, watching black fade to blue, he wondered if ghosts shrunk back into the shadows during the day like vampires. If they did, then Rumble could feel a little bit better about standing outside by himself. It comforted him, feeling that their encounters with ghosts would be no more.

He hoped that was the case-- for Frenzy's sake.

* * *

Frenzy was almost there, just another couple of corners and he would be done. He wasn't sure how long he had been climbing, but it must have been a good while considering that the hole above him in the Tower's point was lightening; perhaps the sun was coming up. _Primus had they really been on the island all night? Certainly seemed like an eternity._

Frenzy worked his way up the rest of the steps, peering over the railing and noting how high up he was. He didn't have a fear of heights, no... just falling through the moldy floorboards and not being able to activate his anti-gravity in time was all. Running and screaming from ghosts had really drained him of precious energy; he hoped he had enough to get back to the base.

He finally reached the top and relished the feeling of finally being able to stand on something sturdier than the feeble planks of wood he used to get up here. He grinned madly, thrilled out of his processor. There it was... the component, lying perfectly and amazingly undamaged.

The body of human in a dirty, white doctor's coat caught his optic and he felt his smile fade; remembering the last time he had came across human remains. Hesitatingly turning on his thermal and looked around the room for an orb. He was right...

The component did radiate heat. He switched off his thermal, a gleeful smile upon his faceplates.

A strangled cry escaped him when something sharp clawed him from behind. He arched his back and stumbled away, spinning on his heels and backing against the bricked window of the Bell Tower, nearly hitting the skeleton.

He instantly began searching for the invisible foe, turning on his thermal once again...

And found an engulfing orange fire filling his visor-sight.

_

* * *

_

_THE NEMESIS_

A tool fell from Soundwave's stoic grasp and clanged against the metal surface of his workbench. Soundwave's Cassettes lifted their heads to their master, each producing their own characteristic animal sound-- in protest-- at the sudden shared feeling that they all were experiencing. Something had entered the bond, something they had never witnessed before, that fact alone was cause for hostility towards the new sensation; the other reason was more sinister. It was a cold, damp feeling that filled them all with dread. All the positive emotions that they felt were snatched away by some force that had invaded the link. But how? By what? And by _whom?_

Soundwave worked to pinpoint the source. It wasn't coming from the creations present in the room, which could only mean that it would have to be from Rumble and Frenzy. Rumble's feelings were nothing out of the ordinary and when Soundwave tried Frenzy...

He found the invader. A dark energy in the form of a malicious but amateur puppet master...

* * *

Rumble continued to wait patiently outside, a little anxious but relatively calm. No ghost had made the effort to take the opportunity that he was alone and that was all the brawler could ask for. Dawn had finally settled in, the blue glow lightening the environment around him. An overwhelming dread, faster than a bolt of lightning, took hold of him, making him shudder. It was too sudden to of been anything normal; there was something very wrong.

Then... it vanished.

Quickly soon after Frenzy's agonizing scream entered his audios like a drill bit; piercing him with fear right down to the core. Rattled was an understatement, there were no words to describe the feeling of hearing a sibling-- a brother-- scream of pain echoing the walls of a structure of pure evil. Rumble turned into the doorway and looked up. Frenzy's form raced down the stairs. Rumble flinched when Frenzy jumped in surprise, lost his balance and flew forward and clutched the square component to his chest to protect it. He tumbled head over heels until he hit the corner of the next set of stairs, slowing him momentarily enough to stop. Frenzy slowly sat up.

Rumble cautiously ran is way up the feeble stairs, wishing he could run faster to aid his twin. He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed a dark shadow on the wall behind Frenzy. Finally Frenzy stood and scrambled down the stairs.

He arched his back and let out a strangled cry of pain but continued down the stairs, determined to escape with the component. Rumble turned and headed back down, Frenzy at his heals.

They reached the bottom and bolted into a full sprint for the door.

As they exited and Rumble was about to turn on his anti-gravity, something enveloped him and lifted him into the air. His optics widened as he screamed and squirmed in protest, trying to break free with everything he had. It was no use. He made another attempt to cry out, when something pressed into his sides with an unfathomable amount of force. It felt as if he was being crushed. His let out a terrified scream when he realized that he was encircled in a tree's branchy grasp; Poltergeist once again flashing through into his processor.

Frenzy reached the doorway and found himself also lifted into the air. Pressure engulfed Frenzy's torso and before he could compute what was happening to him, the component was wrenched out of his grip. The pressure suddenly vanished and Frenzy dropped feet first to the ground.

Flabbergasted, he immediately scanned for the explanation and found it.

Rumble was thrown next to him, flying from Hound's hand as the holographic magician powered down the holographic tree disguising him. An orange rectangular box appeared, revealing Hound's partner in crime, Mirage...

Holding the very reason for remaining on the damned island.

His form trembled with anger seeing the component in Autobot hands. Many vile words flashed through Frenzy's processor as his energon boiled, he decided to pick them all, both Cybertronian and human to really display his malevolent feelings towards the two.

"Hey," Hound said, talking down to Frenzy as if he was a bratty sparkling. "No need to take it personally, we all have jobs to do," Hound said, unfazed by the many titles Frenzy gave them.

"We just happened to get ours done," Mirage shrugged, a small smirk ghosting across his face.

"I ain't leavin' here empty handed!" Frenzy shouted.

Frenzy dived forward, Rumble following suit and transforming their arms into pile drivers. Frenzy and Rumble lashed out at the two Autobots, trying to hit them with their pistons and recover their stolen trophy back. The burning glow in their optics revealing that they would do whatever it took to get it back...

* * *

Rumble and Frenzy awoke several hours later. New dents and paint smears covered their exterior, their energon nearly extinguished from getting their afts handed to them. Frenzy lifted a fist and wiped his bloody bottom lip component, his rage overwhelming. Rumble soon awoke too, a pained sigh escaping him as he lifted his hand to his helm.

After all that... nothing. After countless episodes of being stalked by the walkers of the night, they were to leave with nothing. Absolutely nothing but bad dreams.

"It was all the Autobots..." breathed Rumble, feeling incredibly stupid. "The ghosts... it was all them."

"No Rumble," Frenzy said, sitting up. "It wasn't."

Any other rational Transformer would have looked at Mirage and Hound's appearance as a clear and obvious explanation that it was indeed them that produced the ghostly encounters; that it had all been a sick practical joke. In any other circumstance, in any other place, Frenzy would have agreed with it... if there wasn't one fault to it.

"Primus... _Frenzy_..." Rumble breathed, his mouth fell open when he caught the sight of Frenzy's back. Scratches that were too small to of been the Autobot's doing were gouged across his back. Some looked absolutely excruciating, like he had faced the sting of a cat-o-nine tails. "Did a... what... "Rumble found himself speechless.

Something had possessed Frenzy. It had entered his body and tried to control him but seemed to not have the energy to make him act out any of the desires it had... one of them was to kill the intruder-- Rumble. Frenzy had fought valiantly for control of his body and won-- it angered it and instead lashed out at him; his back was evidence.

Besides, even if he didn't wander into the Bell Tower, how could Hound make a hologram scratch him or push a bed into the back of his legs? Mirage's hand was not small enough to brush their necks and faces. And the footsteps, the Autobots couldn't make the sound or the vibrations on the floor with each step. They had not been alone in those rooms; there was always something in there with them. Constantly watching them and following them.

The Autobots were just there to do their job, not to play games. It was nothing more than a processor-messing coincidence.

Frenzy and Rumble lifted their heads when they heard something approach out of the trees. To their surprise they found their cyber-cat sibling stalking to them, his paws _clinking_ against the stone ground in his normal saunter.

"What're you doin here?" Frenzy demanded, his optics narrowed; offended and taking Ravage's presence of a lack of trust that they could complete their mission.

_"I came here to assist you. Soundwave felt it necessary in case there was something wrong,"_ Ravage responded telepathically, his optics fixed intently at Frenzy.

Frenzy felt his ventilation systems shut off as he stiffened. "Like what? Like _what_ was wrong?"

Ravage tilted his head, his optics glinting with suspicion. _"You must have felt the invader. What was it?"_

Frenzy knew that Ravage was not asking, but _demanding_ to know so he could report it to Soundwave. Lost in trying to escape the Tower as fast as he could, he didn't even stop to think that Soundwave would have felt the possession too-- as well as the others.

"I don't remember..." Frenzy answered Ravage. The optics under his visor scanning the ground in front of him. They would never believe him if he told them that a ghost had tried to take control of him.

A scrutinizing purr echoed in Ravage's vocalizer. He approached closer to them...

Ravage's optics widened momentarily and found himself forced to shut off his olfactory sensors. He let out a hazy hack, as if the cyber-cat was choking on a hairball, and turned his nose away.

"What's wrong with you?" Rumble demanded, crossing his arms over his dented chest plate.

When Ravage explained to them why, Frenzy and Rumble felt an eerie chill through their circuitry; a feeling that revived bad memories.

_"You both smell like the dead,"_ Ravage informed them, his telepathic words covered in disgust.

Rumble and Frenzy exchanged glances with each other as Ravage moved away from them. _"Where is the component-- do you have it?" _Ravage asked.

"Mirage and Hound took it from us," Rumble said, snarling at the Autobot's designations.

Ravage's head lowered and his upper lip curled back with a snarl, revealing his fangs.

_"Well done..."_ Ravage sarcastically congratulated; anger clearly in his sentence. Ravage's metallic ears twitched. He turned and growled at the Tower door, lowering himself into a dangerous stance. Rumble and Frenzy slowly peered around them, knowing whatever it was they were about to see would add to the long list of images that would plague their nightmares.

The body that Frenzy had found near the component dropped in the middle of the floor, its skeletal face staring in their direction. Frenzy and Rumble turned sharply to Ravage when they heard him roar, dancing and slashing his exposed claws wildly at the air.

With nothing to keep the twins on the island, Frenzy turned on his anti-gravity faster than he had ever done in his entire life.

"Right behind ya!" Rumble called after, following suit. Ravage also followed soon after, following them back to the Nemesis.

A female apparition in one of the Hospital's upper level windows watched their shrinking forms until they disappeared fully over Venice's horizon. Finally finding itself at peace with the departure of the invaders.

**THE END**

* * *

_Thanks for reading and Happy Halloween!_

**~Alaskan Olive**


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